Dalun Li's eyes sparkled, while Little Vine hung down from a nearby tree, swaying vigorously in an attempt to attract attention and claim credit.
But perhaps its Stealth was maxed out, or perhaps Dalun Li's attention was entirely consumed by the golden hue of the coin pouch.
No matter how much Little Vine swayed, it failed to catch Dalun Li's eye, eventually hanging limply from the tree in dejection.
"One coin, two coins..."
"Eight gold coins, sixteen silver coins, and three copper coins."
Dalun Li took a sharp breath; this fellow truly was a bellwether sent by the lord, his net worth was certainly extraordinary.
He glanced over at the third floor.
Croton hadn't realized he'd been robbed yet; at this moment, his attention was completely fixed on the copper mine before him, and he excitedly sent men to scout it.
Flipping the coin pouch over, Dalun Li poured all the coins onto his money pile.
Instantly, that small heap of coins was tinged with a faint golden luster.
Though small, the sight filled Dalun Li with a sense of serenity.
He turned to look at the thief vine.
"Our home's future depends on you."
"You must steal well to support me."
Little Vine quickly swayed its tendrils; it didn't understand the words.
But as long as its master was happy, it was happy.
Stealing required selectivity; one couldn't steal everything. He would have to give Little Vine some pointers on that.
Under the approaching pressure of Remel, Dalun Li felt a slight sense of relief.
As long as he created the fifth floor, he would have a chance to stop Remel.
In this dungeon, a large floor appeared every four floors.
A large floor allowed for the creation of a floor guardian.
In other words, a floor boss whose strength far exceeded that of ordinary dungeon monsters.
As for Dalun Li's own power...
He didn't consider that at all, as he had no intention of personally going out to fight.
In terms of pure power...
He possessed all the skills of the monsters he created, and the raw power within his body far surpassed that of any monster.
...
On the second floor of the dungeon.
Kroos broke through the encirclement of red-faced gargoyles in a disheveled state, successfully entering the third floor through the passage.
Though he looked ragged, his haul this time was actually quite good.
He had not only collected a large number of gargoyle red faces but also a mandragora medicinal herb and the fangs of a treasure-filled mimic.
"Another labyrinth..."
'Once I clear this floor, I'm pulling out of the dungeon; I can't go any deeper.'
Kroos, having entered the third floor, made up his mind.
This dungeon was far too bizarre; the various strange monsters appearing here had never been seen in other dungeons.
He had only managed to endure until now by relying on the power of the Whirlwind Badge.
Thus, he had a good deal of self-awareness.
If he continued to rely on the Whirlwind Badge to go deeper, he would eventually fall in this strange dungeon.
He gripped his broadsword, chose a corridor, and began to explore.
And the direction he was exploring was precisely where the copper mine forest was located.
On the trunks within the forest, several unremarkable vines had long since prepared themselves.
...
One day after Kroos entered the third floor.
Deep within the dungeon, the silver orb floated on its pedestal as Dalun Li watched the first and second floors.
"Is it another merchant? How many does that make now?"
Throughout the day, merchants had been entering the dungeon one after another.
These merchants teamed up with craftsmen and hired adventurers for escort, continuously entering the dungeon.
Naturally, they weren't there for exploration; after entering, they followed maps to quickly reach the second floor.
Then, they established bases near water sources to supply goods to those inside.
Most of these supplies were dry rations and consumables for dungeon exploration.
Adventurers made their fortunes from the treasures within the dungeon.
And these merchants made their fortunes from the adventurers.
Dalun Li didn't dislike the presence of these merchants; in fact, the forest near the copper mine on the third floor was created specifically for these people to station themselves and build bases.
When the time came, the thief vine could truly shine.
The entry of merchants and craftsmen was just a small interlude for the dungeon.
Dalun Li was still focusing on, or rather...
Learning.
He was studying the combat styles of the adventurers on the second and third floors.
Specifically, the Silver Bone, Remel.
Most of the monsters Dalun Li had created so far relied on the element of surprise.
Their actual combat capabilities were quite underwhelming.
Therefore, he needed to learn; he needed to study the combat styles of these adventurers to supplement his own shortcomings.
Silver Bone Remel was currently the strongest intruder in the dungeon.
Dalun Li's primary learning target was also this Remel.
His combat stance, his bursts of power, and his instantaneous reactions to crises.
It was just that the gargoyles on the second floor were far too weak to force Remel to use his full strength.
However...
"The combat data from a vast number of adventurers is already sufficient."
The silver orb spun around, picking and choosing from the nearby pile of equipment.
These were all pieces of equipment from deceased adventurers, which couldn't be absorbed as treasure for Earth Vein Power.
Nevertheless, Dalun Li had piled them up instead of discarding them.
He was quite the thrifty dungeon manager.
From the pile, he selected a full set of leather armor and a half-body pauldron.
Then, he picked out the broadsword in the best condition from the weapon pile.
Like an alchemist, he stacked these materials together.
Dalun Li then plucked a branch from the giant tree on the fourth floor and placed it in the center.
"Monster Creation!"
He was already adept at the ability to create monsters, and the pile of materials on the ground soon began to twist and grow.
The branch filled out into flesh, the armor turned into skin, and the blade transformed into a right arm.
Finally, it turned into a bizarre humanoid monster.
[Name] Dalun Li's wood soldier
[Level] lv4
[Skills] Swordsmanship lv2, Stealth lv1, Instantaneous Burst lv1, Hatse lv1, Wood Spike lv1
[Description] A monster servant created by the unknown existence Dalun Li. It can fill out human equipment, mimic human combat, and master Swordsmanship. One must absolutely not be careless.
"Reasonably successful, though there should still be room for improvement."
Dalun Li looked at the adventurers on the various floors.
These guys truly were treasures.
However, watching and learning their combat styles like this was a bit too mentally taxing.
As the number of floors in the dungeon increased, it would be difficult for him to monitor the battles on every level.
'...Perhaps I can design a learning capability into the monsters.'
'Let the monsters learn the opponent's abilities through combat, and then transfer those learning results to me.'
'That way, I can constantly iterate and create even stronger monsters.'
'In this scenario, as long as any adventurer entering the dungeon engages in combat, they are helping me iterate stronger monsters.'
Dalun Li earnestly noted down this idea.
Currently, his power wasn't enough to create monsters with learning capabilities.
But as long as the floors continued to increase, he should be able to achieve it.
"A-Mu, you should know, in this entire dungeon, you're the one I have the highest hopes for."
"The fourth floor is yours from now on. Perk up and don't disgrace yourself."
Dalun Li encouraged the wood soldier seriously.
The wood soldier let out excited, jagged screeches, making Dalun Li miss the sense of intelligence from the little mandragora more and more.
After placing the wood soldier in the forest of the fourth floor, Dalun Li continued to use the remaining equipment to create more wood soldiers.
However, the amount of equipment accumulated wasn't actually that much.
Dalun Li thought of hermit crabs.
Perhaps he could make the wood soldiers exchange equipment like hermit crabs.
If one wood soldier obtained a stronger set of equipment, it would shed its old gear and pass it on to another wood soldier.
"Hmm, I'm really getting more and more skilled; inspirations are constantly gushing out."
Just as Dalun Li was immersed in the design of his new monsters, on the third floor...
Kroos, wearing his Whirlwind Badge, finally explored his way to the copper mine forest.
Rate on N.U.
